Christopher J.H.
Wright has written a helpful and insightful
little book -- Knowing the Holy Spirit
Through the Old Testament
(IVP,2006: 160 pages). Wright connects
the dots between the Old
Testament and New Testament teaching, and writes well.
If you'd like to grasp more of the biblical
teaching on the work and the ministry of the
Holy Spirit, this book will certainly help.

Hope Happenings

Tomorrow, pastors,
missionaries, and church staff members will
gather at Hope
for
an intensive session of study over the next 8 days,
as part of their Masters degree
coursework. These leaders from across the U.S. will
deepen their biblical, professional,
and personal development. Would you lift them
briefly in
prayer?

Hope International
UniversityFullerton CA
92831

"Unbeing
dead isn't being alive." --
e.e.cummings

Our Necessary
Hypocrisy

People who fail to aspire
to any standard higher than what they
already live out, pose a genuine risk to society.

When our fallen
condition becomes the acceptable benchmark, we
plateau with grave consequences.
However, those
who advocate a higher standard but fall short of it
in practice, receive our strongest criticism.

When a person's words and deeds don't align
perfectly, we quickly label them
as duplicitous, two-faced, double-standard hypocrites. We
expect any profession to be matched by consistent living.
But such hasty and harsh judgement may
actually breed a deeper spiritual problem.

When we feel that we
must avoid hypocrisy at all costs, we tend to fall
into one of two deceptions.

On the one hand, we may deceive
others about the truth and reality of our lives.
We create a facade to hide our flaws and failures.
We specialize in "image management" -- our
image.

On the
other hand, and perhaps more sinister, we may deceive ourselves.
The Apostle John wrote, "If we say that we
have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth
is not in us." (1 John 1:8) To avoid the charge
of hypocrisy we project to others only our best
side and, with time, we grow blind to
our weaknesses and justify our "minor"
indiscretions.

If we see our own sinfulness
and have the courage to acknowledge our own failures AND
at the same time advocate the higher standards
of the Kingdom, we cannot avoid "hypocrisy" as the world defines it.
The "gap" actually affirms our commitment to Christ
and the transforming journey of faith.

To see my sinfulness and
not
affirm
a higher goal, is to wallow in darkness and deny the
life-changing potential of the Kingdom and the
Gospel. Our silence either consigns us to
hopelessness or drives us to spiritual
arrogance.

Perhaps when onlookers
accuse us of hypocrisy, we might accept it more as
a backhanded compliment than a hurtful
criticism. Those whose standards are only as high
as their lifestyles never change
society.

We must grieve the gap
between our ideals and our reality, but never
settle for the deception of utter consistency in a
fallen world.

Ours is a necessary
hypocrisy.

In HOPE -

David

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David Timms serves in the Graduate Ministry
Department at Hope International University in Fullerton,
California. "In HOPE", however, is not an official
publication of the University and the views expressed are not
necessarily those of the Administrators or Board of the institution.
"In HOPE" has been a regular e-publication since January,
2001.